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TUFTS   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 


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Webster  Family  Library  of  Veterinary  Medici 
Cummings  School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  a1 
Tufts  University 
200  Westboro  Road 


THE    VILLAGE    BLACKSMITH. 


RATIONAL 


HOI(SE-SHOEINGr, 


BY 


WILDAIR. 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NEW  YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  WYNKOOP  AND  HALLENBECK, 

Xo.  113  Fulton  Street. 
1873. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S73,  by 

WYNKOOP  &  HALLEXBECK. 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


INTRODUCTION, 


TN  presenting  the  observations  contained  in 
the  following  pages,  we  are  aware  that  we 
appeal  to  practical  men  who  judge  by  results, 
and  have  but  slight  patience  with  mere  theory. 
We  wish,  therefore,  to  state  clearly  at  the 
outset,  that  the  system  of  horse-shoeing  here- 
in advocated,  and  the  shoe  offered  by  us  to  ac- 
company it  and  accomplish  its  purpose,  are  the 
result  of  years  of  patient  study  of  nature,  and 
actual  experiment ;  and  that,  although  we  have 
had  to  contend  with  io-norance  and  interest 
on  the  part  of  the  farriers,  and  indifference 
and  prejudice  on  the  part  of  owners  of 
horses,  we  have  finally  succeeded  in  inter- 
esting the  most  practical  and  capable  men  in 

3 


4:  INTRODTJCTIOT^. 

America,  England,  and  France  in  the  matter; 
and,  at  the  time  of  this  publication,  thousands 
of  horses,  engaged  in  the  most  arduous  labors 
of  equine  life — upon  railways,  express  wagons, 
transfer  companies,  and  other  similar  difficult 
positions — are  traveling  upon  our  shoes,  their 
labors  lightened  by  its  assistance,  their  feet 
preserved  in  a  natural,  healthy  state,  and  their 
lives  prolonged  to  the  profit  of  their  owners 
and  the  advancement  of  that  cause— -one  of 
the  evidences  of  the  i^rogress  of  our  age  in 
true  enlightenment — which  has  for  its  benefi- 
cent object  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  the 
dumb  and  helpless  companions  of  our  toil. 


^=^&^^^^S^^r^<^^^.^::^^^^?^4^ 


GENERAL  OBSEKVATIONS. 


npiIE  first  application  of  the  Goodenough 
■^  shoe  is  almost  invariably  to  the  feet  of 
horses  suffering  from  some  one  of  the  forms  of 
foot  disease,  induced  by  the  unnatural  method 
of  shoeing.  Our  system  is  intended  for  sound 
horses,  to  supj^ly  the  necessary  protection  to 
the  feet,  and  to  keep  them  in  a  healthy  con- 
dition. Our  rules  for  shoeing,  embodied  in 
our  circular  of  instructions,  are  applicable  to 
sound  horses,  and  disease  must  be  provided 
for  as  exceptional. 

Men  are  careless  and,  as  a  rule,  unobserv- 
ant ;  they  go  on  in  the  old  wa}'^  until  the  horse 
flinches  in  action  or  stands  "pointing"  in 
dumb  appeal  to  his  owner,  telling  with  mute 
but  touching  eloquence  of  his  tight-ironed, 
feverish  foot,  the  dead  frog,  and  the  insidi- 
ous disease,  soon  to  destroy  the  free  action 
characteristic   of   health.      It   is    when   this 

5 


6  PwATIOXAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 

evidence  brinsrs  the  truth  liome  to  hhn  that 
the  neglectful  master,  eager  to  relieve  the 
animal,  tries  our  system.  To  such  masters 
we  must  say,  do  not  expect  that  the  impru- 
dence and  neglect  of  years  can  be  remedied 
in  an  instant.  The  age  of  miracles  long  ago 
passed  away.  We  do  not  propose  to  cure 
by  formula,  or  bell  and  book.  There  is  no 
"  laying  on  of  hands  " — no  magical  touch  of 
an  enchanter's  wand. 

Remember  always  that  pain  is  the  warn- 
ing cry  of  a  faithful  sentinel  on  the  outpost, 
that  disease  is  at  hand.  Disease  is  the  punish- 
ment foUowina:  a  violation  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  can  only  be  escaped  by  restoring 
natural  conditions. 

Remember  also,  that  "  Nature,"  so  called 
by  Hippocrates,  the  earliest  systematic  writer 
upon  medicine,  never  slumbers  nor  fails  in 
duty,  but  strives  with  unerring,  active  intelli- 
gence to  prevent  disease,  or  to  cure  it  when 
it  can  not  be  prevented. 

When  the  measures  and  processes  of  the 
physician  are  in  harmony  with  the  natural 
intention,  disease  may  be  cured ;  when  they 


GENERAL    OBSERVATION'S.  7 

are  adverse  in  application,  the  patient  dies,  or 
recovers  in  spite  of  art. 

A  great  French  philosopher  powerfully  re- 
marked :  "  Nature  fights  with  disease  a  battle 
to  the  death  ;  a  blind  man  armed  with  a  club — 
that  is,  a  physician — comes  in  to  make  peace 
between  them.  Failing  in  that,  he  lays  about 
him  with  his  club.  If  he  happens  to  hit  dis- 
ease he  kills  disease;  if  he  hits  nature  he  kills 
nature." 

We  wish  to  be  understood  that  in  all  things 
we  would  assist  and  facilitate  the  action  of 
nature,  under  the  artificial  restraints  of  the 
horse.  If  we  fail  in  this,  or  offer  obstruction, 
our  occupation  is  gone.  The  world  has  no 
time  to  listen  to  our  theory,  no  use  for  our 
practice.  And  we  hope  that  the  thoughtful 
readers  of  these  pages  will  see  in  our  inten- 
tion, an  earnest,  honest  purpose  and  belief, 
and  that,  without  affectation  of  science  or 
pretense  of  superior  knowledge,  we  base  all 
our  efforts  upon  nature  and  common  sense. 

In  following  our  instructions  and  attempt- 
ing to  use  our  method,  have  patiencej  and  note 
the  result  from  day  to  day.     The  horse  will 


8  RATIONAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 

quickly  tell  you.  His  action  will  expose 
quackery  and  unmask  pretension .  He  will 
be  no  party  to  a  fraud,  no  advocate  of  an  adver- 
tisement. 

SOUND    HORSES. 

A  sound  horse  is,  after  man,  the  paragon 
of  animals.  "  In  form  and  moving  how  ex- 
press and  admirable  !  "  His  frame  is  perfect 
mechanism,  instinct  with  glowing  life,  and 
guarded  by  the  great  conservative  and  heal- 
ing powers  of  nature  from  disease  and  death. 
His  vitality  is  surpassed  by  that  of  man,  be- 
cause man  has  the  endowment  of  soul,  and  in 
his  human  breast  hope  springs  eternal  and 
imagination  gives  fresh  powers  of  resist- 
ance. Like  man,  the  horse  conforms  cheer- 
fully to  all  climates  and  to  all  circumstances. 
He  is  equally  at  home — 

"  Whether  where  equinoctial  fervors  glow 
Or  winter  wraps  the  polar  world  in  snow." 

Amid  the  sands  of  Arabia  his  thin  hide  and 
fine  hair  evidence  his  breeding;  in  the  frozen 
north  his  shaggy  covering  defends  him  from 
the  cold  storms  and  searching  winds.     The 


GENERAL    OBSERVATIONS. 


9 


disadvantages  under  which  he  will  work  are 
in  no  way  so  clearly  illustrated  as  in  his  effi- 
ciency when  e?:230sed  to  the  evils  of  shoeing. 
Placed  upon  heel-calks,  to  slip  about  and 
catch  with  wrenchinof  force  in  the  interstices 
of  city  pavements,  or  loaded  with  iron-clogs, 
to  give  him  "knee-action  "  and  to  "untie  his 
shoulders,"  he  bravely  faces  his  discomforts 
and  does  to  the  best  of  his  ability  his  master's 
will. 

How  quickly  his  active  system  responds  to 
intelligent  care  and  shows  its  beneficial  re- 
sults! And  when  relieved  from  the  abuses 
of  ignorance,  his  recuperative  powers  re-es- 
tablish the  springing  step  of  youth. 


■^.^ 


CHAPTER  I. 

EVILS  OF  COMMON  SHOEING. 

Tj^YERY  horseman  finds  his  chief  difficulty 
-'-^  in  the  fact  that  he  has  to  protect  the 
natural  foot  from  the  wear  incident  to  the  arti- 
ficial condition  in  which  the  horse  is  placed  in 
his  relation  to  man.  In  those  important  indus- 
tries where  great  numbers  of  horses  are  used, 
and  the  profit  of  the  business  depends  upon 
the  efficiency  of  the  animal,  the  question  be- 
comes a  very  serious  one,  and  the  life  term  of 
the  horse,  or  the  proportion  of  the  number  of 
animals  that  are  kept  from  their  tasks  by  ina- 
bility, make  the  difierence  between  profit  and 
loss  to  the  great  transportation  Imes  that 
facilitate  the  busy  current  of  city  life.  But 
notwithstanding  the  importance  of  this  sub- 
ject, upon  the  score  equally  of  economy  and 
humanity,  the  world  is,  for  the  most  part,  just 
where  it  was  a  thousand  years  ago,  possibly 
worse  oflf,  for  the  original  purpose  of  shoeing 
was  only  to  protect  the  foot  from  attrition  or 

10 


EVILS    OF    COMMON   SHOEING.  11 

chipping,  and  but  little  iron  was  uSed,  but,  as 
the  utility  of  the  operation  became  apparent, 
the  smith  boldly  took  the  responsibility  of 
altering:  the  form  of  the  hoof  to  suit  his  own 
unreasoning  views,  cutting  away,  as  super- 
fluous, the  sole  and  bars,  paring  the  frog  to 
a  shapely  smoothness,  and  then  nailing  on  a 
broad,  heavy  piece  of  iron,  covering  not  only 
the  wall  but  a  portion  of  the  sole  also,  thus 
putting  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  horse  to 
take  a  natural,  elastic  step. 

In  a  short  time  the  hoof,  unbraced  by  the 
sole  and  bars,  begins  to  contract,  the  action  of 
the  frog  upon  the  ground,  which  in  the  nat- 
ural foot  is  threefold — acting  as  a  cushion  to 
receive  the  force  of  the  blow  and  thus  relieve 
the  nerves  and  joints  of  the  leg  from  concus- 
sion, opening  and  expanding  the  hoof  by  its 
upward  pressure,  quickening  the  circulation 
and  thereby  stimulating  the  natural  secretions, 
— this  all  important  part  of  the  organization, 
without  which  there  is  no  foot  and  no  horse, 
becomes  hard,  dry,  and  useless.  Then  fol- 
lows the  whole  train  of  natural  consequences. 
The  delicate  system  of  joints  inclosed  in  the 


12  KATIONAL    HOESE-SHOEIXG, 

hoof  feel  the  pressure  of  contraction,  the  knees 
bend  forward  in  an  attempt  to  relieve  the 
contracted  heel.  In  this  action  the  use  of 
the  leg  is  partially  lost.  The  horse  endeavors 
to  secure  a  new  bearing,  interferes  in  move- 
ment, or  stands  in  uneasy  torture. 

Nature  frequently  seeks  relief  by  bursting 
the  dry  and  contracted  shell,  in  what  is 
known  as  quarter  or  toe  crack,  and  the  mis- 
erable victim  becomes  practically  useless  at 
an  age  when  his  powers  should  be  in  their 
prime. 

Every  horseman  will  acknowledge  that 
his  experience  has  a  parallel  in  the  picture 
here  presented.  Many  men  have  at  various 
times  attempted  reform,  but  the  difficulty 
heretofore  encountered  has  been  that  the 
mechanical  application  was  in  the  hands,  not 
of  the  owners  and  reasoners,  but  in  those  of 
a  class  of  men  who  are,  for  the  most  part, 
ignorant,  prejudiced,  and,  consequently,  apt 
to  oppose  any  innovation  upon  the  old  abuses 
in  which  they  have  had  centuries  of  vested 
rischt;  and  it  was  not  until  the  studies  of  Mr. 
R.  A.  Goodenough  that  there  were  brought 


EVILS    OF   COMMON    SHOEING. 


13 


to  bear  veterinary  knowledge,  mechanical 
skill,  and  inventive  faculty,  to  overcome  the 
stolidity  and  interest  which  have  been  the 
lions  in  the  way  of  true  reform. 


CHAPTER  II. 


FROG     PRESSURE. 

THAT  portion  of  the  hoof  called  the  "  frog," 
performs  the  most  important  visible 
function  in  the  economy  of  the  movement 
of  the  horse.  It  is  intensely  vital  and 
vigorous.  The  greater  its  exposure  and  the 
severer  its  exertion,  the  more  strenuous  is  the 
action  of  nature  to  renew  it.  It  is  the  spring 
at  the  immediate  base  of  the  leg,  relieving 
the  nervous  system  and  joints  from  the  shock 
of  the  concussion  when  the  Race  Horse  thun- 
ders over  the  course,  seeming  in  his  powerful 
stride  to  shake  the  solid  earth  itself,  and  it 
gives  the  Trotter  the  elastic  motion  with 
which  he  svv^eeps  over  the  ground  noiseless 
upon  its  yielding  spring,  but,  if  shod  with 
heavy  iron,  so  that  the  frog  does  not  reach 
the  ground  to  perform  its  function,  his  hoofs 
beat  the  earth  with  a  force  like  the  hammers 
of  the  Cyclops. 

With  the  facility  to  error  characteristic  of 

14 


FROG   PRESSURE.  15 

the  unreasoning,  it  has  been  one  of  the  opin- 
ions of  grooms  and  farriers  that  this  callous, 
india-rubber-like  substance  would  wear  away 
upon  exposure  to  the  action  of  the  road  or 
pavement,  and  it  has  been  one  of  their  cherish- 
ed practices  to  set  the  horse  up  upon  iron,  so 
that  he  could  by  no  possibility  strike  the  frog 
upon  the  ground. 

In  addition  to  this  violation  of  nature,  they 
pare  away  the  exfoliating  growth  of  the  or- 
gan, and  trim  it  into  the  shape  that  suits 
their  fancy. 

Without  action,  muscular  life  is  impossible, 
the  portion  of  the  body  thus  situated  must 
die,  paralyzed  or  withered.  Motion,  use,  are 
the  law  of  life,  and  the  frog  of  the  horse's 
hoof  with  a  function  as  essential  and  well-de- 
fined as  any  portion  of  his  body  is  subject  to 
the  general  law.  Without  use  it  dries,  har- 
dens, and  becomes  a  shelly  excrescence  upon 
a  foot,  benumbed  by  the  percussion  of  heavy 
iron  upon  hard  roads.  This  is  a  loss  nature 
struggles  in  vain  to  repair,  the  horse  begins 
to  fail  at  once.  The  elastic  step,  which  in  a 
state  of  nature  spurned  the  dull  earth,  becomes 


16  EATIOXAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 

heavy  and  stiff,  and  the  unhappy  brute  ex- 
periences the  evils  partially  described  in  the 
previous  chapter. 

To  restore  the  natural  action  of  the  foot  by 
putting  the  bearing  on  the  frog,  is  the  chief 
object  of  the  system  we  advocate,  and  the 
Goodenough  shoe  is  designed  especially  to 
provide  for  that  first  and  last  necessity.  If  this 
is  accomplished  with  a  sound  horse,  he  will 
avoid  the  thousand  ills  that  arise  from  the 
usual  method,  and,  so  far  as  his  feet  are  con- 
cerned, he  will  remain  sound. 

If  the  shoe  is  adopted  as  a  cure  for  the  un- 
soundness already  manifested  in  animals  that 
have  been  deprived  of  the  proper  use  of  their 
feet,  it  will  cure  them,  not  by  any  virtue  in  the 
iron  itself,  nor  by  any  magic  in  its  application, 
but  simply  by  giving  beneficent  nature  an  op- 
portunity to  repair  the  ruin  that  the  igno- 
rance of  man  has  wrought  upon  her  perfect 
handiwork. 

This  part  of  our  subject  is  so  important  that 
we  shall  return  to  it  again  in  subsequent 
chaj)ters,  and  enforce  it  at  every  point. 


goode:nough  shoe— feont. 


CJIAPTER   III. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  GOODENOITGH  SHOE. 

li^ROM  the  representation  of  the  slioe 
-*-  in  the  cut,  its  peculiar  conformation 
will  be  observed,  and  the  reason  for  these 
chano-es  from  the  common  form  we  shall  en- 
deavor  to  explain  as  clearly  as  possible.  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  very  light,  scarcely 
half  the  weisrht  of  the  averasje  old-fashioned 
shoe.  The  foot  surface  is  rolled  with  a  true 
bevel,  making  that  portion  of  the  web  which 
receives  the  bearing  of  the  hoof,  the  width 
of  the  thickness  of  the  wall  or  crust.  This 
prevents  pressure  upon  the  sole,  and  makes 
the  shoe  a  continuation  of  the  wall  of  the 
foot.  The  ground  surface  of  the  shoe  has 
also  a  true  bevel,  following  the  natural  slope 
of  the  sole,  and  bringing  the  inner  part  of  the 
shoe  to  a  thin  edge.  The  outer  portion  is 
thus  a  thick  ridge,  dentated,  or  cut  out  into 
cogs  or  calks,  allowing  the  nail-heads  to  be 
countersunk.  This  arrangement  gives  five 
2  17 


18  EATIOXAL    HOESE-SHOEING. 

calks — a  wide  toe-calk,  the  usual  heel-calks, 
and  two  calks,  one  on  each  side,  midway 
between  the  toe  and  heel — thus  putting  the 
bearing  equally  upon  all  the  parts  of  the 
foot. 

This  calking  has  a  double  object.  In  the 
common  system  of  shoeing,  to  avoid  slip- 
ping in  winter  upon  the  ice,  and  in  the  cities 
upon  the  wet,  slimy  surface  of  pavement,  or 
to  assist  draft,  it  is  customary  to  weld  a 
calk  upon  the  toe  of  a  shoe,  and  to  turn  up 
the  heels  to  correspond.  In  this  motion  the 
horse  is  placed  upon  a  tripod,  his  weight  be- 
ing entirely  upon  three  pohits  of  his  foot,  and 
those  not  the  parts  intended  to  bear  the  shock 
of  travel  or  to  sustain  his  weight.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  frog  is  of  course  one  of  hopeless 
inaction,  and  the  motion  of  the  unsupported 
bones  within  the  hoof  produce  inflammation  at 
the  points  of  extreme  pressure,  so  that,  in  case 
of  all  old  horses  accustomed  to  go  upon  calks, 
there  is  ulceration  of  the  heels,  in  the  form  of 
"corns,"  which  the  smith  informs  the  owner 
is  the  effect  of  hard  roads  bruising  the  heel 
from  the  outside;   he  usually  "cuts  out  the 


DESCRIPTION    OF   GOODEXOL^GII    SHOE.      19 

corn,"  and  puts  on  more  iron  in  the  form  of 
a  "  bar  shoe,"  Or  the  same  action  which 
produces  corns,  acting  upon  the  dead,  dry, 
unsupported  frog  and  sole,  breaks  the  arch 
of  the  foot  so  that  a  ''  drop  sole  "  is  mani- 
fest, or  "  pumiced  foot,"  for  both  of  which  a 
"  bar  shoe "  is  the  unvarying,  j)ernicious 
prescription.  In  the  Goodenough  shoe,  the 
calks  are  supplied,  and  the  weight  so  dis' 
tributed  that  the  objection  to  the  old  method 
does  not  exist. 

COUNTERSINKING  THE  NAILS. 

This  is  a  point  to  which  we  call  attention 
as  of  great  importance.  In  shoeing  a  horse 
for  light  or  rapid  work  with  a  common  flat 
shoe,  seven  or  eight  nail-heads  protrude,  and 
take  the  force  of  his  blow  on  the  ground. 
The  foot  has  just  been  pared,  and  those  nails, 
driven  into  the  wall  and  pressing  against 
the  soft  inside  horn  and  sensitive  laminae, 
vibrate  to  the  quick,  and  often  cause  the 
newly-shod  horse  to  shrink,  and  show  sore- 
ness in  traveling  for  a  day  or  two.  No  mat- 
ter how  skillfully  shod,  the  horse  will   be   all 


20  RATIONAL    HORSE-SHOEING, 

the  better  in  escaping  this  unnecessary  inflic- 
tion. 

THE  BEVEL    OF   THE   FOOT   SURFACE 

Is  to  keep  the  shoe  a  continuation  of  the 
crust  or  wall  of  the  hoof,  and  to  avoid  per- 
cussion upon  the  sole. 

THE   BEVEL   ON    THE   GROUND   SURFACE 

Is  to  follow  the  natural  concavity  of  the  foot 
and  to  give  it  the  form  which  will  have  no 
suction  on  wet  ground,  will  n  )t  i^ick  u^)  mud, 
or  retain  snow-balls. 

THE  CALKS 

Have  a  use  fully  explained. 

When  the  shoe  thus  described  is  set  so  as 
to  secure  frog  pressure,  as  hereinafter  directed, 
a  horse  may  be  shod  without  violation  of 
nature's  laws ;  foot  disease,  under  fair  condi- 
tions, will  become  almost  impossible,  and  the 
useless  refuse-stock,  broken  down  by  the  old 
method,  may  be  restored  to  usefulness. 


GOODENOUGH   SHOE-BACK. 


(CHAPTER  IV. 

HOW   TO   SHOE  SOUND  FEET. 

TF  a  foot  came  to  the  farrier  in  a  perfectly 
-*-  normal  condition,  never  liavino:  been  sub- 
jectecl  to  the  destructive  process  of  common 
shoeing,  the  directions  for  putting  on  the 
Goodenough  shoe  would  be  simply,  to  dress 
the  foot  by  paring  or  rasping  the  wall  until 
a  shoe  of  proper  size  laid  upon  the  prepared 
crust  would  give  an  even  bearing  with  the 
frog  all  over  the  foot ;  then,  as  the  calk  wore 
away,  the  pressure  Avould  come  more  and 
more  upon  the  frog  and  the  foot  would  re- 
tain its  natural  state  durinor  the  life-time  of 
the  horse. 

A  colt  thus  shod  could  not  have  a  corn,  for 
a  corn  is  an  ulcer  caused  by  the  wings  of  the 
coffin-bone  pressing  upon  a  hard,  unelastic 
substance.  When  the  horse  raises  his  foot 
the  coffin-bone  is  lifted  upward  by  the  action 
of  the  flexor  tendon ;  v/hen  his  foot  touches 
the  earth  the  weight  of  the  animal  is  thrown 

*>! 


2  2  RATIONAL    HOKSE-SHOEING. 

uj^on  the  same  bone,  and,  if  unsupported  "by 
the  natural  cushion  of  the  foot,  the  action  of  the 
bone  pressing  the  sensitive  sole  upon  iron  causes 
the  bruise  which,  for  lack  of  another  name,  is 
called  a  corn.  The  horse  thus  shod  would 
never  have  a  quarter  crack,  for  that  is  the  im- 
mediate effect  of  contraction  caused  by  the 
absence  of  the  expanding  action  of  the  frog 
and  the  consequent  dead  condition  of  the  hoof 
from  want  of  circulation  and  proper  secre- 
tions. The  horse  would  be  equally  free  from 
"  drop  "  and  "  pumiced "  sole,  seedy  toe, 
thrush,  and  kindred  complaints. 

INCIPIENT   UNSOUNDNESS. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  find  a  horse  per- 
fectly sound  in  his  feet,  unless  one  looks 
(strange  as  it  may  seem)  into  the  stables  of 
the  Third  Avenue  Railroad  Company,  or  those 
of  Adams'  Express,  or  Dodd's  Transfer  Com- 
pany, or  into  some  of  the  other  stables  where 
our  shoe  and  system  are  in  faithful  use  ;  we 
will  therefore  call  attention  to  such  a  case  as 
will  be  generally  presented  at  the  forge:  A 
good    young    horse,    shod   for   several   years 


FOOT,  SHOWING  SHOE  AND  FKOO. 


HOW  TO  SHOE  SOUND  FEET.       23 

npon  the  common  plan,  and  in  the  early 
stages  of  contraction.  We  find  he  has  on 
wide-web  shoes,  weighing  about  twenty- 
ounces  each;  these  may  be  smooth  in  front 
and  calked  behind  ;  they  bear  upon  the  sole 
and  heel.  In  place  of  a  fi'og,  we  discover  a 
point  of  hard,  shrunken,  cracked  substance, 
neither  froor  nor  sole.  We  cut  the  clenches 
and  take  off  the  relic  of  ignorance  and  bar- 
barism, throwing  it  with  hearty  good-will  in- 
to the  only  place  fit  to  receive  it — the  pile  of 
scrap-iron.  We  examine  carefully  to  see 
tliat  no  stub  of  nail  is  left  in.  The  heels  will 
be  found  long  and  hard.  Our  object  being 
frog-pressure,  to  get  the  vivifying  action  of 
this  tactile  organ  upon  the  ground,  we  pare 
down  the  whole  wall ;  we  soon  come  to  sio-ns 
of  a  corn — perhaps  a  drop  of  blood  starts ;  but 
as  we  do  not  intend  to  put  the  weight  upon 
the  heels,  wo  are  not  alarmed.  Ha  vino:  cut  all 
we  can  from  the  heels  and  still  finding  that 
the  frog,  when  the  shoe  is  laid  on,  can  not 
touch  the  ground,  tee  Tcnock  down  tJie  last 
hco  calks  and  draiv  the  heel  of  the  shoe  thin; 
this  must  give  us   a  bearing  upon  the  frog 


24 


KATIOIS'AL    HORSE-SHOEING. 


and  the  sound  part  of  the  foot.  We  use  the 
lightest  shoe,  truly  fitted  with  the  rasp,  not 
burned  on.  The  horse  should  then  be  work- 
ed regularly,  and  he  will  experience  at  once 
the  benefit  of  a  return  to  ''  first  principles  " 
and  natural  action. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SIMPLE  CASES  OF  CONTRACTION. 

CONTRACTION,  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree, is  exhibited  by  allhorses,  of  e very- 
grade,  that  have  been  shod  in  the  common 
way,  except  in  those  more  unfortunate  cases 
that  have  resulted  in  a  breaking  of  the  arch 
of  the  foot,  from  lack  of  the  natural  frog  sup- 
port, when  the  phenomena  of"  dropped  sole  " 
are  found,  and  the  usual  accompaniment  of 
"  pumiced  feet." 

It  may  seem  superfluous  to  say  that  the 
power  and  action  of  the  horse  are  greatly  re- 
stricted by  contraction. 

The  cartilaginous  fibre  that  forms  the  bulk 
of  the  substance  of  the  foot  behind  the  great 
back  sinew  is  squeezed  into  narrow  space, 
the  working  of  the  joints  compressed,  and 
inflammation  at  the  joints,  or  at  the  wings 
of  the  coffin-bone,  is  excited ;  in  worse  cases 
navicular  disease  is  established,  or,  from 
inadequate  circulation,  thrush   holds  posses- 


26  EATIOXAL    HOJISE-SHOEING. 

sion   at   the  frog,  or  scratches  torment  the 
heels. 

When  simple  contraction — shown  in  the 
narrow  heel,  dried  and  shrunken  frog,  and 
"  pegging  "  motion  of  the  horse — is  the  case, 
our  desio:n  is  at  once  to  restore  the  natural  ac- 
tion  of  the  foot.  This  must  be  done  by  ex- 
pansion, and  that  is  to  be  had  from  frog-pres- 
gure,  according  to  the  directions  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapters.  If  navicular  disease  has 
commenced,  and  the  animal  is  decidedly- 
lame,  we  have  a  difficult  case.  The  mem- 
brane of  this  important  bone,  in  some  cases 
of  contraction,  becomes  ulcerated,  and  the 
bone  itself  may  be  decayed,  or  adhesion 
between  the  coffin-bone  and  the  navicular 
and  pastern  may  take  place.  Without  ex- 
pansion there  is  no  possibility  of  relief; 
local  bleeding,  poulticing,  and  all  the  drastic 
drugs  of  the  veterinary  will  be  invoked  in 
vain. 

QUARTES  AND   TOE  CRACK. 

This  disease,  usually  attributed  to  "  heat," 
"  dry  weather,"  "  weak  feet,"  etc.,  is  one  of 


SIMPLE    CASES    OF    CONTRACTION.  27 

the  common  symptoms  of  contraction,  and 
can  be  entirely  cured  with  the  greatest  ease ; 
nor  will  it  ever  recur  if  the  hoof  is  kept  in 
proper  condition. 

If  the  case  is  recent,  shoe  as  advised  in  our 
paragraph  upon  "  Incipient  Unsoundness," 
being  sure  to  cut  the  heel  well  down,  putting 
the  bearing  fully  upon  the  frog  and  three_ 
quarters  of  the  foot.  If  the  hoof  is  weak 
from  long  contraction  and  defective  circula- 
tion, lower  the  heels  and  whole  wall,  until  the 
frog  comes  well  upon  the  ground,  and  shoe 
with  a  "  slipper,"  or  "tip,"  made  by  cutting 
off  a  light  shoe  just  before  the  middle  calk, 
drawing  it  down  and  lowering  the  toe-calk 
partially.  This  will  seem  dangerous  to  those 
who  have  not  tried  it,  but  it  is  not  so.  The 
horse  may  flinch  a  little  at  first,  from  his  un- 
accustomed condition,  and  from  the  active  life 
that  will  begin  to  stir  in  his  dry,  hard,  and 
numb  foot,  but  he  will  enjoy  the  change. 
The  healing  of  the  crack  will  be  from  the 
coronet  down,  and  it  is  good  practice  to  cut 
with  a  sharp  knife  just  above  the  split,  and  to 
clean  all  dirt  and  dead  substance  out  from  the 


28  "   RATIONAL    HORSE-SIIOEIXG, 

point  where  you  cut,  downwards.  Soaking 
the  feet  in  water  will  facilitate  a  cure  by  quick- 
ening the  growth  of  the  hoof;  or,  a  stimulat- 
ing liniment  may  be  applied  to  the  coronet,  to 
excite  more  active  growth.  Bear  in  mind 
that  expansion  is  not  from  the  sole  upwards, 
but  from  the  coronet    downwards. 

TOE   CEACKS. 

* 

The  cause  of  this  defect  is  the  same  as  in 
quarter  crack.  It  appears  in  both  fore  and 
hind  feet.  Clean  the  crack  well,  cutting  with 
a  sharp  knife  the  dead  horn  from  each  side  of 
it ;  shoe  as  advised  for  quarter  crack,  or  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  expansion  and  natural 
action  of  the  dead,  shelly  hoof  The  dirt  and 
sand  may  be  kept  out  of  the  crack  by  filling 
it  with  balsam  of  fir,  or  pine  pitch.  Keep  the 
horse  at  resrular  work. 


T 


CHAPTER  YI. 

DKOP  SOLE  AND  PUMICED  FOOT. 

HIS  miserable  condition  of  the  abused 
animal  is  Nature's  fiercest  protest  against 
the  igcnorance  and  carelessness  of  man.  A 
horse  set  upon  heavy  shoes,  and  those  armed 
with  calks  at  toe  and  heel,  such  as  are  usually 
inflicted  upon  large  draft-horses,  has  his 
whole  weight  placed  upon  the  unsupported 
sole.  The  frog  never  comes  in  contact  with 
the  earth  in  any  way,  inflammation  of  the 
sensitive  frog  and  sole  takes  place,  and  the 
arch  of  the  sole  bends  down  under  the  pres- 
sure until  the  ground  surface  of  the  hoof  be- 
comes flat  or  convex,  bulscing:  down  even 
lower  than  the  cruel  iron  that  clamps  its 
edge.  This  is  the  condition  of  a  drop  sole. 
This  degenerate  state  of  the  foot  has  other  com- 
plications. Active  inflammation  is  often  pres- 
ent and  all  the  wretchedness  of  a  pumiced  foot 
' — the  despair  of  owner  and  veterinary — is  ex- 
perienced.    The  smith,  whose  clumsy  contriv- 

OQ 


30  RATIONAL    nOESE-SHOEING. 

ance  has  been  the  cause  of  all  tlie  woe,  has 
abundant  reasons  to  offer  for  the  disease, 
and  his  unfailinsj  resort  of  the  "'  Bar  ShoeP 
This  atrocious  fetter  is  supplemented  with 
leather  pads,  sometimes  daubed  with  tar, 
and  the  horse  hobbles  to  his  task.  Not 
unfrequently  the  crust  at  the  front  of  the  hoof 
sinks  in,  adhering  to  the  sole ;  circulation 
being  cut  off, 

SEEDY    TOE 

is  then  manifest. 

The  only  possible  relief  from  these  compli- 
cations is  in  natural  action.  Contraction  is 
not  present,  but  we  want  circulation,  new 
growth  and  absorption;  we  obtain  it  by 
dressing  the  foot  smoothly  with  the  rasp  and 
putting  the  bearing  evenly  upon  the  frog  and 
a  light  shoe,  which  should  be  merely  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  wall  of  the  foot.  Mauy  very 
bad  cases  shod  in  this  way  have  been  re- 
lieved. No  grease  or  tar  should  ever  be, 
used. 


DROr    SOLE    AND    PUMICED  FOOT.  31 

CONTRACTION,  OR  DROP  SOLE,  WITH   SORENESS 

AT    THE   TOE. 

Shoe  as  previously  directed,  and  rasp  or 
cut  the  sole  and  wall  at  the  toe  into  a  slight- 
ly hollow  shape,  so  that  you  could  pass  a 
knife-blade  between  the  hoof  and  shoe.  The 
object  of  this  is  to  relieve  the  hoof  from  pres- 
sure at  this  point.  In  cases  where  the  toe  is 
thin  and  weak,  or  where  there  is  inflammation 
extending  to  the  point  of  the  frog,  remove  as 
much  of  the  sole  pressing  against  the  frog  as 
seems  feasible,  and  level  the  toe-calk,  so  that 
the  horse  will  bear  upon  the  frog  and  side- 
calks. 

It  is  often  well  to  free  a  shrunken  frog 
from  the  binding  growth  of  sole  that  has 
closed  in  upon  it,  and  in  cases  of  contraction, 
where  this  is  done,  a  horse  will  recover  the 
action  of  the  frog  with  less  difficulty  than 
where  that  organ  is  sole-bound.     * 

THRUSH, 

This  is  a  filthy,  fetid  disease  of  the  frog. 
By  many  veterinary  writers  it  is  attributed 
entirely  to  damp  stables,  general  nasty  con- 


32 


RATIONAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 


dition  of  stall,  yard,  etc.  Mayhevv  ingenu- 
ously remarks,  in  addition,  that  it  is  usually 
found  in  animals  that  "  step  short  or  go  grog- 
gily,"  and  that  the  hoof  is  "  hot  and  hard." 
Youatt  comes  to  the  point  at  once  in  saying 
that  it  is  the  effect  of  contraction,  and,  when 
established,  is  also  a  cause  of  further  contrac- 
tion. It  is  manifest  in  a  putrid  discharge 
from  the  frog.  The  matter  is  secreted  by  the 
inner  or  sensible  frog,  excited  to  this  morbid 
condition  by  pressure  of  contraction.  Its  cure 
is  simple  and  easy  if  the  cause  is  removed. 
A  wash  of  brine,  or  chloride  of  zinc,  three 
grains  to  the  ounce  of  water,  is  generally  used 
to  correct  the  foulness. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
BENT  KNEES  INTERFERENCE.  AND  SPEEDY  CUT. 

^  I  ^HE  kn&e  of  a  horse  is  a  most  complicated 
-■-  and  beautiful  mechanical  arrangement, 
singularly  exempt  from  strain  or  disease  in 
any  form.  Bony  enlargement,  inflammation 
of  the  ligaments,  do  not  attack  it.  The  rav- 
age of  the  shoeing-smith — the  horse's  direst 
enemy — seems  to  be  exhausted  upon  the  feet 
and  the  sympathetic  pasterns ;  the  concussion 
of  iron  and  pavement,  uncushioned  by  the 
frog,  will  destroy  the  lower  system  of  joints 
before  the  knee  can  be  shaken. 

Notwithstanding  this  perfection  and 
Strength,  many  horses  bend  the  knee,  and 
stand,  or  travel  with  it  bent,  until  the  flexor 
muscles  shrink  from  lack  of  use.  This  "  over 
in  the  knees  "  condition  is  invariably  caused 
by  imperfect  use  of  the  feet.  The  efiect  of 
heel-calks  and  their  accompaniment  of  corns, 
making  a  sore  in  each  heel,  is  often  indicated 
by  the  horse  to  his  regardless  owner  by  bend- 


34  RATIONAL   HOKSE-SHOEING. 

ing  liis  knee.  The  owner  asks  the  smith  why 
he  does  it,  and  the  smith,  who  never  fails  to 
give  a  reason,  says  he  has  always  noticed  that 
horse  had  "  weak  knees."  We  know  of  a 
shoer  in  Worcester  County,  Massachusetts, 
who  has  a  wide  local  reputation  for  "  doctor- 
ing "  weak  knees.  He  holds  that  the  muscles 
of  the  leg  in  such  cases  are  too  shorty  and  have 
to  be  lengthened  with  thick  iron  heels  and 
calks.  It  is  a  favorite  theory  of  this  class  of 
shoers  that  they  are  ahle  to  correct  the  errors 
of  Providence  in  the  horse's  construction,  and 
piece  him  out  with  heel-calks  and  bar-shoes ! 

INTEKFERING  AND  SPEEDY  CUT. 

If  horses  were  not  shod,  they  would  not 
interfere;  it  therefore  follows  that  shoeing  is 
the  cause  of  this  defect.  A  contracted  hoof, 
pain  from  corns,  or  any  inflammation  causes  a 
horse  to  seek  a  new  bearing.  In  doing  this 
he  strikes  himself.  Blacksmiths  make  "  inter- 
fering shoes,"  welding  side-pieces  and  super- 
fluous calks  ujDon  their  clumsy  contrivances, 
and  sometimes    succeed    in    preventing    the 


INTERFERING  AND  SPEEDY  CUT.  35 

symptom,  but  they  never  remove  the  cause. 
Few  horses  with  natural  feet,  good  circula- 
tion, and  shod  with  a  light  shoe,  will  ever 
interfere.  In  all  such  cases,  take  off  the 
heavy  shoe,  cure  the  contraction,  get  an  even 
bearing,  and  let  nature  have  at  least  a  momen- 
tary chance. 

WORKING   UP    HORSES. 

It  is  a  common  practice  of  large  proprie- 
tors, engaged  on  railroad  or  city  work,  to  buy 
up  horses  with  unsound  feet,  unfitted  for  speed 
or  gentle  service,  and  use  them  up,  as  old 
clothes  are  j^ut  through  a  shoddy-mill  for 
what  wool  there  is  left  in  them.  This  cruel 
policy,  under  an  intelligent  system  of  shoe- 
ing, would  be  impossible,  because  the  vast  ag- 
gregate of  foot  diseases  would  be  so  abated 
that  horses,  sound  in  general  health  but 
creeping  upon  disabled  hoofs,  could  not  be 
found  in  droves,  as  at  present,  and  the  specula- 
tor in  equine  misfortune  would  better  serve 
his  selfishness  by  buying  young  horses  and 
keeping  them  sound  by  a  natural  system  of 
shoeing. 


36  RATIONAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 

STUMBLING    HORSES. 

This  annoyance  is  frequently  caused  by 
undue  use  of  the  toe,  when  the  heel  is  lame 
and  sore  from  contraction  and  corns.  When 
the  horse  has  the  frog  well  on  the  ground  and 
uses  his  heel  without  shrinking  he  is  not  apt 
to  stumble. 

TO    INCREASE    COMFORT. 

In  dry  weather,  or  when  a  horse  with  a 
hard,  lifeless  hoof  is  shod  with  the  Good- 
enough  shoe,  and  shrinks  from  the  unaccus- 
tomed pressure  of  the  frog  on  the  ground, 
nothing  is  so  grateful  to  his  feet  as  cold  water. 
The  hose  turned  on  them  is  a  delicious  bath; 
or  if  he  can  stand  for  an  hour  in  a  wet  place, 
or  in  a  running  brook,  he  will  get  infinite  com- 
fort from  it.  We  have  sometimes  rapidly 
assisted  the  cure  of  contraction,  in  the  city,  by 
manufacturing  a  country  brook-bottom  in 
this  simple  way  :  Put  half  a  bushel  of  peb- 
bles into  a  stout  tub,  with  or  without  some 
sand,  let  them  cover  the  bottom  to  the  depth  of 
two  or  three  inches,  pour  on  water  and  you 
have  a  good  imitation  of  a  mountain  brook. 


INTERFERIXG    AND    SPEEDY    CUT.  37 

Put  the  horse's  forefeet  into  this,  and  let  him 
bear  his  weight  upon  the  frog.  The  first 
time  he  will  grow  uneasy  after  a  few  minutes, 
but  when  his  frog  becomes  natural  in  its 
function  he  will  be  glad  to  stand  there  all 
day. 

Do  not  carry  this  treatment  to  excess. 
Moderation  is  the  most  satisfactory  course  in 
all  things.  Abjure  utterly  all  oils  and  greasy 
hoof  dressings,  they  are  pernicious  recom- 
mendations of  unreasoning  grooms.  They 
fill  the  pores  of  the  wall,  and  injure  in  every 
way.  ISTature  will  find  oil,  if  you  will  allow 
circulation  and  secretion,  through  the  action 
of  the  frog. 

"Stufiing  the  feet,"  is  another  wretched, 
groom's  device.  A  horse  has  a  dry,  feverish 
hoof  from  contraction,  so  his  hollow  sole, 
denuded  of  its  frog,  is  "  stuffed  "  with  heat- 
ing oil-meal,  or  nasty  droppings  of  cows. 
When  this  sort  of  thing  is  proposed,  remem- 
ber Punches  advice  to  those  about  to  be  mar- 
ried, "  Don't  do  it." 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

ECONOMY  OF  THE  GOODENOUGH  SHOE. 

A  HORSE-SHOE  that  the  united  v.oices  or 
-^-^  the  shrewdest  and  ablest  managers  in 
the  country  commend — inasmuch  as  it  enables 
cripples  to  work,  frequently  restores  them, 
and  maintains  soundness  where  that  quality 
exists — need  not  be  recommended  on  the 
ground  of  economy.  Such  a  horse-shoe  could 
not  be  dear.  But  it  takes  all  sorts  of  people 
to  make  a  world,  and  the  pressure  to  the 
square  inch  of  mean  men  is  not  to  be  governed 
by  safety-valves  or  regulated  by  gauges. 
There  are  too  many  men  who  will  use  the 
thing  that  costs  the  least  outlay,  even  if  it 
tortures  or  kills  the  horse.  On  the  point  of 
first  cost  we  may  say  that  if  our  shoe  had  no 
advantage  over  the  hand-made  shoe  in  pre- 
serving the  natural  action  and  growth  of  the 
foot,  thereby  retaining  the  powers  of  the 
animal  in  full  vigor,  it  would  still  be  cheaper 
than  the  common  shoe.     It  is  sold  slightly 

38 


ECONOMY    OF    THE    GOODEN'OUGII    SIIOK.      HO 

higher  than  the  clumsy  pieces  of  bent  iron 
called  horse-shoes  by  mere  courtesy,  and  its 
lio-htness  grives  one-third  more  shoes  to  the 
keg,  while  there  is  no  expense  of  calking, 
which,  in  labor  and  material,  is  equal  to 
three  cents  per  pound.  Upon  the  point  of 
durability,  it  is  well  settled  that  the  heavy 
shoe  will  not  last  so  long  as  the  light  one 
with  frog  pressure.  A  horse  set  upon  heavy 
shoes  grinds  iron  every  time  he  moves.  The 
least  interposition  of  the  frog  will  reduce  the 
wear  very  materially,  and  if  the  frog  is  well 
on  the  ground,  a  horse  will  carry  a  shoe  until 
he  outgrows  it. 

A  horse  -  railroad  superintendent  said  to 
the  writer,  "  We  don't  wear  iron  nowadays, 
we  wear  frog  and  cobble-stones ;  nature  pro- 
vides fros:  and  Boston  finds  cobble-stones." 
When  the  Goodenough  shoe  is  put  for  the 
first  time  upon  a  dry,  half-dead  foot,  and  the 
froo:  brouo^ht  into  livelv  action,  growth  is 
generally  very  rapid.  We  have  often  been 
compelled  to  reset  the  shoe,  cutting  down  the 
wall,  in  ten  days  after  shoeing.  Many  horses 
that   have  been   used   upon  pavements  and 


40  RATIONAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 

horse-railroads,  have  acquired  a  habit  of  slip- 
ping and  sliding  along,  catching  with  heel- 
calks  in  the  space  between  the  stones ;  such 
horses  do  not  at  once  relinquish  the  habit, 
and  wear  their  first  set  of  our  shoes  much 
more  rapidly  than  the  subsequent  set,  after 
they  have  assumed  the  natural  action  of  their 
feet.  But,  economical  as  a  light  shoe  that  will 
long  outlast  a  heavy  one  may  be,  the  great 
saving:  is  in  the  item  of  horse-flesh. 

The  value  of  the  horses  employed  in  the 
actual  labor  of  the  country  reaches  a  start- 
ling sum  total. 

The  vast  importance  of  the  horse  in  the 
movement  of  business,  was  never  so  fully 
understood  and  deeply  felt  as  during  the  year 
j)ast,  when  the  epizootic  swept  over  the  con- 
tinent, paralyzing  all  movement  and  every 
form  of  human  industry.  Even  the  ships 
that  whiten  the  seas  would  furl  their  sails 
and  steamers  quench  their  fires  but  for  the 
labors  of  the  horse.  During  the  epidemic 
the  canal -boats  waited  idly  for  their  pa- 
tient tow-horses  and  railroads  carried  little 
freight ;   the  crops  of  the  West  lay  in  the 


PEKFECT  SHOE  A^H)  nOOE. 


IMPERFECT  SHOE  AND  HOOF. 


ECONOMY  OF  THE  GOODENOUGH  SHOE.  41 

farmers'  granaries  and  the  fabrics  of  the 
Eastern  loom  and  varied  products  of  mechan- 
ical industry  crowded  the  warehouses  ;  even 
the  ragpicker  in  the  streets  suspended  his 
humble  occupation,  for  the  merchant,  unable 
to  transport  rags,  refused  to  buy  them  of  the 
gatherer.  Tlie  investment  of  national  wealth 
in  horses  being  s )  enormous,  any  means  that 
adds  to  the  efficiency  of  the  horse  greatly  en> 
hanccs  the  general  prosperity. 

It  is  an  old  English  saying,  that  "  a  good 
horse  will  wear  out  two  sets  of  feet."  The 
meaning  of  this  adage  is  obvious :  a  good 
horse's  feet  are  useless  at  the  time  when  his 
other  powers  are  in  the  prime.  Mr.  Edward 
Cottam,  of  London,  in  his  "  Observations 
upon  the  Goodenough  System,"  states  that 
London  omnibus -owners  use  up  a  young 
horse  in  four  years;  that  is,  a  horse  of  seven 
years  of  age  goes  to  the  knackers  at  eleven, 
pabulum  Aclierontis  ;  and  the  only  noticeable 
cause  of  their  failure  is  from  diseases  of  the 
feet.  A  horse  properly  shod  and  cared  for 
should  endure  five  times  as  long.  In  this 
country  horses  fail  in  the  feet,  and  are  called 


42  EATIOXAL    HORSE-SHOEING. 

old  at  an  age  when  they  should  be  in  the 
fullest  activity.  This  is  a  double  loss,  for 
every  horseman  o-f  experience  knows  that  if 
an  old  horse  is  sound  and  vigorous  he  has 
some  great  advantages  over  a  young  one. 
He  is  safer  in  every  respect,  "  way- wise," 
seasoned,  steady,  and  reliable.  He  and  his 
owner  are  old  friends  and  companions  and, 
can  not  part  but  with  a  j)ang  of  regret.  A 
good  horse,  well  cared  for,  should  work  cheer- 
fully until  he  is  thirty  years  of  age ;  yet  how 
few  are  able  to  perform  genteel  service  after 
fifteen  !  It  is  a  sad  sight  that  of  the  high- 
mettled,  noble  animal,  once  the  petted  darling 
of  wealth,  caressed  by  ladies  and  children, 
and  guarded  so  that  even  the  winds  of  heaven 
might  not  visit  him  too  roughly,  fallen 
through  the  successive  grades  of  equine  deg- 
radation, until  at  last  he  hobbles  before  a  clam- 
wagon  or  a  swill-cart — a  sorry  relic  of  better 
days. 

The  question  is  so  plain  that  we  hesitate  to 
argue  with  intelligent  people  to  prove  that, 
if  the  old  system  of  shoeing  destroys  the  value 
of  a  horse  in  raiddle  life,  half  his  money  value 


ECOXOMY  OP  THE  GOODENOUGH  SHOE.  43 

is  sacrificed  to  ignorance — a  waste  that  miglit 
be  saved  were  nature's  laws  reo-arded.  That 
part  of  the  argument  which  demands  that 
the  faithful,  devoted  servant  merits  humane 
treatment  and  the  best  intelligence  of  the 
master  in  securino^  his  health  and  comfort 
can  not  be  foro-otten  and  need  not  be  uro-ed 
upon  the  attention  of  the  true  horseman. 


r/Mii 


■n^'^j^ 


FINAL   OBSERYATIONS. 


npo  be  rational  in  any  course  of  action  is, 
-■-  primarily,  to  follow  the  leading  of  rea- 
son, and  by  that  guidance  to  arrive  at  correct 
conclusions. 

It  is  the  opposite  to  the  method  which  is 
irrational — regardless  of  reason,  and  therefore 
leading^  to  conclusions  erroneous  and  absurd. 
Rationalism  is  opposed  to  ultraism,  to  vehe- 
ment, officious  and  extreme  measures — while 
it  would  seek  more  excellent  ways,  it  holds 
fast  to  that  which  is  good. 

Rationalism  in  medicine  is  the  method 
which  recoo^nises  nature  as  the  o;reat  asrent  in 
the  cure  of  disease,  and  employs  art  as  an 
auxiliary  to  be  resorted  to  when  useful  or 
necessary,  and  avoided  when  prejudicial. 

In  our  treatment  of  the  hoof,  we  would 
seek  to  know  the  cause  of  the  horse's  troubles, 
firmly  believing  that  he  is  endowed  by  nature 


FINAL    OBSERVATIOXS.  45 

with  strength  to  perforin  the  service  man  de- 
mands of  him,  and  that  he  is  not  necessarily  a 
helpless  prey  to  torturing  diseases  of  the 
minor  organs  ;  and,  indeed,  subject  only  to  that 
final,  unavoidable  sentence,  which  in  some 
form  nature  holds  suspended  over  all  animate 
existence. 

Having  by  the  aid  of  reason  ascertained 
the  cause  of  defects,  we  would  assist  nature 
to  relieve  them ;  we  have  therefore  called 
this  little  hand-book  of  suggestions  from  our 
experience.  Rational  House-shoeing. 

OPPOSING   FORCES. 

Having  taken  uj^on  ourselves  to  reform 
evils,  rooted  deep  in  old  customs,  and  to 
abolish  abuses  older  than  our  civilization,  we 
have  to  meet  with  discouragement  and  oppo- 
sition in  various  forms. 

Even  the  enlisfhtened  and  well-intentioned 
hold  back  incredulous.  This  form  of  opposi- 
tion finally  examines,  being  led  thereto  from 
motives  of  economy  and  the  promptings  of 
humanity ;  it  usually   approves   and    assists, 


40  RA.TTOXAL    HOKSE-SIIOEIXG. 

but  is  often  carried  back  by  indolence,  when 
it  discovers  that  it  must  join  us  in  the  loud 
battle  we  are  forced  to  wa<2-e  all  along^  the  line 
against  fierce  interests  and  bitter  i^rejudices. 

We  attack  with  slender  array,  but  unflinch- 
ing purpose,  the  gloomy  powers  of  ignorance 
that  are  allied  to  doubt  and  indifference. 
These  contend  under  the  prestige  of  a  thou- 
sand years  of  possession. 

Ignorance  and  Prejudice  are  twin  giants 
that  renew  their  life  upon  each  other ;  they 
are  as  old  as  chaos,  and  are  invulnerable  to 
the  weapons  of  ordinary  warfare.  Like  the 
fallen  angels,  they  are — 

"  Vital  in  every  part, 
And  can  but  by  annihilation  die." 

One  of  the  Greek  fables,  typifying  the 
struggle  of  man  against  circumstances,  was  a 
story  of  the  battle  between  Hercules  and  An- 
taeus, son  of  the  Earth.  The  fight  was  long 
and  doubtful,  for  whenever  the  mortal  was 
felled  to  the  ground  by  the  power  of  the 
vigorous  god,  his  force  was  renewed  by  con- 
tact with  thw  breast  of  his  mother  Earth,  and 


FINAL   OBSERVATIONS.  47 

he  sprang  to  his  feet  and  recommenced   the 
never-endinnr  strife. 

This  contest  between  the  god,  and  the  mor- 
tal born  of  earth  and  sea,  is  the  poetical  type 
of  the  unceasing  toil  of  man  in  the  Valley  of 
the  Nile,  against  the  sandy  waves  of  the  Ly- 
bian  desert,  always  encroaching  upon  the  cul- 
tivated soil,  and  demanding  year  by  year  new 
exertions  to  repress  their  advance. 

So,  in  our  attempt  to  establish  a  better  sys- 
tem of  utilizing  the  powers  of  the  horse  in  the 
service  of  man,  we  have  each  day  to  meet  the 
same  enemy,  renewed  by   contact  with   the 
sources  that  foster  and  reinforce  ignorance. 
But  as  persistent  labor  conducted  the  benefi- 
cent waters  of  the  Nile  in  irrij^atino^  channels 
through   the    arid  plain   of  the  desert,  until 
upon  the  inhospitable  edge  gardens  bloomed, 
fields  of  grain  waved  in  the  breeze,  and  the 
date-palm  cast  its   grateful  shade   upon  the 
husbandman — so  we  make  healthful  progress, 
and  enjoy  a  widely  increasing  triple  reward — 
first,  in  the  thankful  esteem  of  our  fellow  men; 
secondly,   in  the  relief  we  afibrd  -  to   a  noble 
animal  ;  and  last,   in  the  substantial  return 


48  EATIONAL    HOKSE-SHOEING. 

which  the  highest  authority  has  adjudged  to 
honest  labor. 

EEGTILAR  WORE. 

AVe  wish  all  readers  of  this  book  to  under- 
stand that  the  directions  herein  given  for 
shoeing  apply  to  horses  whose  owners  expect 
them  to  work  regularly  after  shoeing — from 
the  very  hour  in  which  the  shoes  are  set. 

We  do  not  propose  to  "lay  up"  horses;  or 
to  put  them  to  rest  in  "loose  boxes,"  nor  yet 
to  "turn  them  out  to  grass."  One  of  the 
chief  difficulties  we  have  had  with  wealthy 
owners  has  been  from  the  tendency  to  keep 
the  horse  out  of  tvorlc  when  we  have  got  him 
into  a  condition  where  we  want  exercise  to 
stimulate  the  alterative  process  we  propose. 

A  cure  of  any  foot  disease  we  have  describ- 
ed, will  be  much  more  rapidly  effected  if  the 
horse  has  his  regular  work  upon  the  roads  or 
pavements  to  which  he  is  accustomed,  no 
matter  how  hard  they  are. 

We  hope  that  it  has  also  been  noticed,  that 
we  do  not  propose  to  cure  spavins,   splints, 


FINAL   OBSERVATIONS. 


49 


navicular  disease,  or  to  restore  the  natural 
action  of  a  horse  where  ossification  of  carti- 
lage is  well  established. 


IkM 


Webster  Family  Library  of  Veterinan/  Medicine 
Cummings  School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at 
Tufts  Univgrsity 
200  Westboro  Road 
Worth  Grafton,  MA  01536 


